


tell me why I feel

by dancingassassin



Category: Gundam 00
Genre: Drinking, Gay Bar, M/M, Tieria Erde doesn't know how to handle feelings, Undercover Mission, the start of feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-02-12
Packaged: 2018-05-20 00:37:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5986423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancingassassin/pseuds/dancingassassin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tieria and Lockon are sent on an undercover mission. All is well and good until they realize they have to go into a gay bar to try and learn more about their target.</p><p>written for RottenAdel</p>
            </blockquote>





	tell me why I feel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RottenAdel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RottenAdel/gifts).



Tieria always felt strange when he was chosen for undercover missions, especially ones that had him down on earth rather than in space. His purple hair and red eyes stood out, as did the fact that he had a face so feminine that most people were convinced that he _was_ a woman. But he supposed of the other meisters, he was not the worst choice. The meisters all had their strengths, most of which centered on combat and technology.

He wouldn’t say _any_ of them particularly excelled in undercover missions.

Today he found himself in a most undesirable situation, though. The person they were tailing – Graham Aker – had gone into a _gay_ bar of all places. And to make things more uncomfortable, he was in the company of Lockon Stratos. While Lockon was the most tolerable of the other meisters, things always felt slightly awkward because of these bizarre _things_ he felt when he was around him. Tieria was resolute to ignore whatever those things were for the time being. He had more important things to focus on – Celestial Being’s collective mission, and for today, finding out more about this Graham Aker. Especially since the mobile suit pilot had seemingly become enamored with Gundams.

They were sitting at the bar, near their mark, who was merely drinking and conversing with other men. To Tieria, this was a waste of time. They weren’t going to find out enough information about this pilot while he was getting drunk and flirting.

And the place they were was just… _appalling._

People kept staring at him – and not just at his face. They were blatantly looking at his body! Sure, Sumeragi had dressed him for this mission, or rather, sent clothing with him and told him to wear them. It was to help him ‘better blend in.’

Frankly, he didn’t understand what was wrong with _his_ clothing, but he appreciated her gesture. Well, he had until he saw the tightness of the trousers and the casualness of the shirt – especially when the cut of the shirt was very feminine, with a loose neckline. It made him feel a little exposed, he couldn’t exactly wear his usual cardigan with this outfit.

“Ease up, Tieria…” Lockon draped nearby, idly sipping at a beer so dark that light didn’t penetrate through it.   _A stout_. He remembered Lockon telling him that. “The venue sucks, but we can still figure out important bits.”

Tieria quirked a brow up before sipping at his water. He was _not_ drinking with a bunch of random men who were eyeing him like he was a piece of meat. “I am not sure what we can learn from a drunk.”

Lockon winked, hailing the bartender over so he could order another drink, and one for Tieria. “Drunks spill secrets more easily, alcohol loosens the lips.”

Tieria stared at the drink his colleague had slid in front of him. A beer – but this one gold in coloration with a tiny bit of foam sitting on top. He supposed it was a pretty color. His gaze slid to Lockon, more perplexed than anything.

“We’re undercover, Tieria…you need to blend in a bit…” Lockon grinned as he started in on the new stout. “I think you’ll like that one, just sip it, alright?”

He relented and nodded. Yes, he needed to blend in. He was blatantly uncomfortable with the place they were in, which stood out. And yes, they needed to blend in.  Tieria took a tentative sip of the beer, his face brightening slightly. It was _good_. It was sweeter than the stout Lockon had convinced him to try, lighter as well. And yes, he found that he liked it, so he immediately took another stout.

“Alright, I’m going to mingle a bit, see if I can get closer to him, alright?” Lockon’s hand was on Tieria’s partially bare shoulder. “You stay here, send a message if he starts moving.”

“R…got it.” Tieria nodded, biting back the urge to say ‘roger that’. That wouldn’t exactly help him blend in. There. Orders. He could handle orders.

He watched Lockon move through the crowd with ease, the smile on his face genuine. But there was a sharpness to his gaze that told Tieria that he was all business right now. That was comforting. Tieria kept his eyes on their target, who was still conversing with a young looking man with long hair.  He took another sip of the beer, sighing and resting his chin in his hand. It was going to be a long night.

“Hey there, beautiful.” The voice came from behind Tieria, the words slurring slightly.

Even from behind him, he could smell the alcohol on his breath. A hand came to rest on the bare skin of Tieria’s shoulder, and unlike when Lockon touched him there, it felt like his skin was crawling. He turned his head slightly to see the man who had addressed him, a flicker of distaste passing over his face. The man was about Lockon’s height, maybe a bit taller. It was hard to tell when he was sitting and the other was standing. He had wild, dark red hair and pale green eyes. There was something about him that made him rather nervous, but he didn’t comprehend _why_. Something about him just felt dangerous.

“Quiet, eh?” An arm draped around Tieria’s shoulders as the man sat down next to him on the stool Lockon had been occupying. There was a smirk playing on the man’s lips. “Come with me…”

“No thank you.” Tieria sipped at his beer, glancing back at the crowd. He couldn’t see Lockon anymore, though Graham was still sitting and getting drunker and drunker.

“Ah come on…you know you want to.”

The arm around Tieria’s shoulder tightened slightly, fingernails digging into the exposed flesh. Discomfort crawled up his spine, unease weighing his limbs down. Still, he managed to tug away from the arm, at least for a moment.

“I said no thank you.” Tieria’s voice got a bit sharper, a bit more like it would be when he was on the Ptolemy. “Don’t touch me.”

The man grabbed him by the upper arm, hand almost entirely encompassing his arm. The discomfort and unease shifted more toward fear and panic, the meister’s eyes widening slightly.

“I said, you know you want to.” A sharp tug on his arm.

Tieria felt another arm around his shoulder, tensing immediately – at least until he picked up the familiar scent of Lockon. He glanced to the taller man, seeing that he still had a smile on his face, but that his eyes were steely.

“Hey now…he’s here with someone. _Me_.” Lockon’s voice was friendly, but there was an edge to it. “Now back down.”

The hand around his arm released a moment later, a scowl passing over the redhead’s face. There were a few mumbles as the man left, grumbles that sounded vaguely like ‘that guy doesn’t look like he knows the ass end of a horse’ and ‘how can he expect to make the pretty one scream’. Tieria didn’t really get it, but he shrugged away the incident. He needed to focus on their mission.

“Are you alright, Tieira?” Lockon’s smile was gone now, leather clad hands resting gently on Tieria’s shoulders. He seemed to be checking him over for obvious signs of injury. “I shouldn’t have left you on your own…”

“I’m fine and you’re more than welcome to ‘mingle’…I’m sure this was an isolated incident.” Tieria shrugged Lockon’s hands off his shoulders. He reached for his beer and took another sip.

“…you…really…” Lockon shook his head, laughing slightly. “Well, either way, I’ll stick by your side in case that asshole comes back, how about that?”

There was a faint blush on Tieria’s cheeks as he considered this. Yes, this was acceptable. But why did Lockon being close merit his cheeks flushing? This was not the time for those pesky, strange _feelings_ to be occurring. They had work to do. “Yes, that is acceptable, so long as we complete our mission.”

He might have sounded all business, but for the remainder of their time in the bar – which was far too long for Tieria’s liking – he stayed very close to Lockon. Not unnecessarily close, just more than normal. There was a strange flutter in his stomach that he didn’t quite understand. But it was almost…nice.


End file.
